The Finance Ministry expects that a decision on setting up a National Investment Board (NIB)—a body to approve and speed up stalled infrastructure projects such as roads, ports and airports—would be taken in the next 2-3 weeks, a senior ministry official said on Thursday.
A decision could be taken in the next two-three weeks, Arvind Mayaram, Economic Affairs Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, told reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum meeting on the outskirts of Delhi.
The NIB is being set up to ensure that clearances required for major projects would be granted by the relevant ministries without unnecessary delays; the blueprint for the NIB, which was discussed at a Cabinet meeting in late September but has yet been cleared, gives the board the power to overrule other ministries.
In early October, Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan had written to the Prime Minister, strongly objecting to Finance Minister P. Chidambaram's proposal to set up the NIB. NDTV had accessed Ms Natarajan's letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in which she asked him to intervene, and wrote, "This concept is unacceptable. The NIB has no constitutional authority to decide on the failure of any minister... when the Minister of a Ministry takes a decision, there is absolutely no justification for an NIB to assume his/her authority. Nor will the NIB have the competence to do so." The letter added in appeal, "I request you to kindly intervene and refer this proposal to various levels of government for proper examination."
A Cabinet note prepared by the Finance Ministry said the NIB is necessary because several big-ticket projects have been held up due to inordinate delays in getting approvals from different ministries. It noted that it can take several years to get all clearances and important targets had not been met.
If clearances were not given by the concerned ministries within a specified time-frame, the projects should be sent to the NIB, which would be headed by the Prime Minister and would have as members the Finance Minister and Law Minister, according to the blueprint. The board will take the final call on whether the project can proceed. Once the NIB has okayed a project, no ministry will have the power to raise objections.
Mr Chidambaram has reportedly promised industry leaders that the board, which will ensure that infrastructure projects above Rs 1,000 crores are not delayed, will be set up soon. The NIB plan is part of the government's aggressive reforms agenda to stimulate economic growth and seeks to address a longstanding industry complaint that ministerial clearances delay crucial mega projects.
With inputs from Reuters
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